Selling a car with engine light on!

Gsaver1

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

It might be nothing.  Years ago my 'check engine' light came on for no apparent reason, I took the car to my friendly mechanic and he ascertained it was nothing more than a sensor erroneously deciding there was a fault with something.  The read produced a fault code, turning on the light, but the fault itself did not exist.  The mechanic reset the computer and nothing further has ever come of it.  Total cost was the petrol to get to the garage and a few minutes of my time.  The mechanic, being good, didn't charge for not doing anything.  Get it checked, at least, it might be nothing or something so small that it's worth seeing to.  
As for the bodywork: that's up to you.  It doesn't cost that much to have a dent knocked out and probably isn't even that expensive to have the door re-skinned if you want it to look perfect.  

What a good mechanic you have. I had the same kind of issue with my Mondeo. The garage I went to charged me £35. He said it just needed cleared. If it came on again he wouldn't charge me. Coil spring went and I supplied the new one. Charged £75 for fitting. When I got my new car I went to an Independent specialist who I use to this day.

AdrianC

Given the cost of a fault code reader - less than a fiver, plus a free app on your phone - it seems to me to be a no-brainer to DIY read any fault codes that pop the light on.

Make a note of them. Clear them. If they come back, there's an issue. If they don't, it was transient.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333692617421

Some years back, I was driving my mother's Peugeot. It pinged the light on, and went into limp mode - so limp, it would barely get onto the verge under its own steam. The recovery people turned up (finally), read the code - fuel pressure sensor fault. Cleared the code... and it never once pinged it back on until she sold the car earlier this year.

We had a code and limp with one of ours a few months back. Read the code - coil pack. It was fine cold, but faulted when it warmed up. Ten quid and ten minutes to change the coil (I did both plus plugs and leads).

RobM99

My engine light came on Sunday lunchtime - 30 minutes later and change from £21 - new spark plugs. Bingo!

frost500

Cheap fault code readers are a waste of time, generally. They generally just point you in the direction of an emission fault. Professional mechanics use scan tools that can read live data from each control module in turn, ecus issue fault codes when that don't get the correct information from a module they were expecting, that is normally a voltage drop. The voltage drop could be a failed module, damp or a break in wiring, correded earth points etc. So my advice would be use a mini speacilist to repair the fault, get the body work sorted the best way you can, and sell privately.  As soon as you present a car with a fault to the trade, you have given them an excuse to offer you next to nothing. In reality, EML is not a concern to them, minis are not difficult to put right. It is the bodywork that takes time to get right, the trade offer you more for cars without bodywork damage. Mechanical damage rarely has any effect on trade in value